"Our Lady of Pain" by Elena Forbes

Just turned the last page of "Our Lady of Pain" by Elena Forbes. The second installment in what is shaping up to be a superb British police procedural series.

The first book in the series, "Die with me", I reviewed on this blog on June 13, 2009.

"Our Lady of Pain" is set in London, in February, with DCI Mark Tartaglia and policewoman Sam Donovan working an intriguing murder case. The body of a beautiful young art dealer is found by a passing jogger naked and frozen in Holland Park. Her body is posed in such a way that she looks like she is praying and an excerpt of a poem is found in her mouth.

The murder investigation is hindered by the fact that the victim, Rachel Tenison led a very mysterious and disturbing life. They flounder along with the case until a journalist links this case with one from the previous year which has some similarities to the one that they are working on... At this point a detective from the first case, Simon Turner, is assigned to work with them.

The suspects are credible villains who hide their motivations and lie about their whereabouts forcing Tartaglia and the Barnes Murder Squad to work even harder and more ingeniously to seek out the truth.

With brilliant characterizations and a steadily increasing grip of suspense, this novel delivered on all levels. It has in fact, ascertained that Elena Forbes has been added to my favorite novelists list. (see bottom of this blog's front page)

Read "The Darker Side", and original essay by Eleana Forbes available online.

Whodunit Book Club - October 27th, 2010

A lively crowd of eighteen gathered for October's Whodunit Book Club meeting and we were all pleased to welcome a couple of new members, Holly and Marian.

Pam posed the questions: "What did you think of last month's meeting with guest author Pamela Callow?" and "What is on your 'to read' list right now that you are excited about?"
The general consensus was that everyone greatly enjoyed Pamela Callow's visit to club.
We enjoyed her gracious and accommodating attitude and appreciated hearing a little first hand knowledge about book publishing from an author who is experiencing the process for the first time.
Many reading suggestions were garnered from listening to members share what their next read would be.

This months book for discussion was Henning Mankell's first Kurt Wallander mystery, "Faceless Killers".
Henning Mankell became interested in writing at an early age and is a prolific author who has written plays, novels, and even children's books. He is an award winner. His novel "Sidetracked" won the Gold Daggar in 2001. He has sold 35 million copies of his works and those works have been translated into 41 languages! In 2008 Mankell was the 9th best-selling author in the world!

Mankell divides his time between Moçambique and Sweden and he has commented that he has one foot in the snow and one foot in the sand.

Interesting to note was that he chose the name Wallander for his detective by getting his name out of the phone book.
Wallander is a bizarre sort of anti-hero. Mankell confesses that he is not sure that Wallander and he would be friends in real life as he doesn't like him very much.
Described by the Whodunit members as pathetic, solitary, forgetful, dysfunctional, disorganized, irresponsible, sorry for himself and too dependent on alcohol, it is no wonder that Mankell feels this way.

The novel "Faceless Killers" had a chilling beginning. The Swedish winter weather was cold and bleak and the horrific crime was disturbing. In Faceless Killers, an elderly couple are murdered on an isolated farm after being brutally tortured and the woman's final word 'foreign' unleashed a ferociously anti-refugee sentiment in Ystad. Most members enjoyed the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the novel. The victims had an interesting double-life and the references to the noose that were scattered throughout the novel intrigued the readers. However, many were disappointed in the ending and felt cheated. The noose references turned out to be 'red herrings' and the solution to the crime seems almost an appendix to the story rather that a true conclusion due to the fact that the author revealed crucial information only at the last minute... The crime was motivated by greed and was perpetrated by criminals with sociopathic tendencies.
It was noted that the novel seemed almost farcical at times. The Swedish police force seemed to have myriad outstanding resources at their disposal, but the workforce seemed provincial in their behaviour.
I came away from the meeting not really knowing if the members would continue reading other books in the series. Sometimes the first novel of a series is not the author's best work, and there must be a reason why Mankell has sold 35 million copies...

I very much enjoyed the PBS Mystery rendition of "Faceless Killers". In fact I think I enjoyed it much more than the book and discovered that others agreed. Wallander was expertly portrayed by Kenneth Branagh. Anyone who has not yet seen the Wallander mysteries on PBS are in for a treat. Kenneth Branagh a self-confessed voracious reader, had just finished reading nine Mankell titles when he met Mankell in a bathroom at a reception honouring Ingmar Bergman, Henning's late father-in-law.

Click here for a link to a Sunday Times article on Henning Mankell's thoughts on Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Wallander.

Also, here is a link describing Branagh's win of the 2010 BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Wallander.

There were six book giveaways this month. The lucky winners were:
Regis, Marian, Camilla, Tracy, Marilyn and Marlene.

Whodunit Book Club - September 28th, 2010

Whodunit Book Club was thrilled to welcome local thriller writer, Pamela Callow to club this month!
The author of the bestselling novel "Damaged" Pamela generously shared some of her experiences with getting her first book published, the writing process and some other background information.

A self-confessed bookworm as a child, she was a regular patron of the local Bookmobile. When she was eight years old, she decided that she wanted to write a book. She credits her junior high school English teacher with lighting the 'spark' that really got her started. Pam took an adult education class at Mount Saint Vincent University. It took her five years to get published.

Her very first novel (a time travel historical novel) is as yet unpublished. She intends to someday revisit this book, fine tune it, and perhaps try once more to get it published.

"Damaged" was based on an actual legal case from the United States in which the perpetrator was an oral surgeon, a funeral home was involved with tissue brokering, and a class action suit resulted from it! She decided to set the novel based on this case in Halifax. The first publisher she approached actually rejected "Damaged" based on the setting. Whodunit members appreciated the local setting so we could readily imagine the scenes in the novel. Pamela receives positive emails from all over the U.S. and Canada about "Damaged", so the setting is clearly not a deterrent to those readers!

There is a great book trailer for "Damaged" available on You Tube!

A lawyer, Pamela Callow's writing process was aided by her legal background. This helped when doing research for her novel and also helped to open doors to such places as the Halifax Police Department. Her husband, a physician was helpful with the medical side of the story.

Pamela Callow gave us some insight as to the incredibly hard work that is required to ensure that the continuity of plot and character development is maintained. This is especially important when writing a series. She claimed to be a 'plodder' when she spoke of her writing regime. She creates flow-charts, an outline, and a full back-story for all of her characters before beginning on the actual novel. With a four book contract, she has resigned from her legal career and now writes full time, seven days per week!

Whodunit members were curious about Alaska, the husky dog which was a character in "Damaged". She says he is based upon two dogs that belong to her brother. She also let us know that there would be dogs featured throughout the series.

The second novel in the Kate Lange series, "Indefensible" is due out December 2010. This novel features a wrongful accusation against Randall Barrett and occurs four months after "Damaged" ended.
She is currently working on "Tattooed", the third novel in the series.

She credits her excellent PR team with some of her success. The first printing of "Damaged" was 128,000 copies! A real coup for a first-time novelist.
She commented upon the cover art of her books. They will all center around a woman's face and water. This, she says is a semi-metaphor for characters that are figuratively 'drowning'.
The hidden staircase in Kate Lange's home is another recurring element in the series. Pam says it is a metaphor for Kate's life.

Pamela Callow graciously signed books for Whodunit members following the meeting.
Some photos of the signing are below.

Whodunit Book Club - August 31st, 2010

Sixteen members attended this month's meeting which was, as usual, a lively event.
The circle's question this month was: "What book is on your nightstand right now?"
The answers enabled us to learn a little more about our fellow bookclub members AND some great recommendations were given in the process!
The novel discussed this month was "The girl with the dragon tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. This novel has been published in over 40 languages and has sold over 20 million copies! Therefore it meets anyone's criteria of a 'bestseller'. It is also an award winning book which garnered the Anthony Award and the Glass Key Award.
We learned a little about the author who, sadly, is deceased. He died of a heart attack at age 50 before having the opportunity to reap the rewards of his efforts as all three of his bestselling Millennium trilogy were published following his death. He was an investigative journalist, a workaholic and an activist. Because of the nature of his work he feared for his safety and hid out in his own home. He and his partner of 32 years never married because in Sweden you have to divulge your address once you are married. As a result, his partner Eva Gabrielsson does not benefit from the proceeds of the novels. His estranged father and brother inherit his estate. For an online interview with Eva Gabrielsson click here.
Stieg Larsson put a lot of effort into researching and preparing his novels. He actually had an outline for ten novels!
Also, the novels have been made into movies in their original Swedish language. I was fortunate enough to see the first two. There are also English language movies being made, but I believe that the original Swedish versions will surpass these in talent, direction and cinematography. I simply cannot imagine that the part of Lizbeth Salander played by Noomi Norén (aka Noomi Rapace) could be matched by another actress.

Whodunit members enjoyed the novel and about 3/4 of the members want to read the sequels. They felt that the ending was very well done and in keeping with the story.
Some found that the first of the book dragged a bit, but most agreed that this was needed to 'set up' the story for the rest of the novel.

This month's lucky winners of Pam's book giveaway were:
Jody, Marilyn, Heather and Lynne.

Next month's title is "Damaged" by Pamela Callow. A local author, she has agreed to attend our next meeting and Whodunit is excited to have her with us.

Great mystery anthology!

I enjoy reading short stories in my genre of choice... the mystery. When I come across a collection that is of absolute 'stellar' quality, I feel it is my duty to share it with my fellow mystery lovers.
"The Penguin book of Crime Stories volume II" is just such an anthology! Selected and introduced by one of my favorite authors, Peter Robinson, this collection surpassed my expectations.
Two of my favorite stories from this collection were: "The visitors' book" by Sophie Hannah and "The game of dog" by Reginald Hill.
Other excellent short stories in this collection were written by Ruth Rendell, Sue Grafton, Maureen Jennings, Robert J. Randisi, Rick Mofina, John Connolly and Lee Child to name a few.
Highly recommended. Enjoy!

Whodunit Book Club - July, 2010

I was sorry to have missed this meeting, but summer vacation took precedence.
I have garnered the following information from some of my fellow club members.

Pam's magical question/ice breaker was:
"What is your beverage of choice when you read?"
Varied answers included tea, coffee, wine etc. Of course all the answers came with anecdotes...
The novel discussed this month was "Sign of the cross" by Anne Emery.
First in a series set in our hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the book was enjoyed by most members. People felt the characters were believable and for the most part likable – the story was believable and not too far fetched. Overall the book was well received. Some highly recommended it, and gave their copies to others to read. Some had already read other books in the series.
The importance of 'setting' was discussed at length. Some enjoyed the fact that the books was set locally so that they could readily identify with the descriptions. Others prefer it if a novel is set in other parts of the world so that they can learn about other places.
The protagonist is Halifax lawyer, Monty Collins. He is hired to defend a priest, Father Brennan Burke who is suspected of murdering a young girl whose body was carved with a religious 'sign'.
From the author's website: "From their first meeting, Monty finds Burke acerbic, arrogant, and evasive about his relationship with the victim. Conflict between lawyer and client simmers all through the ordeal that lies ahead, as evidence piles up and murder charges seem inevitable. With Burke remaining tight-lipped about his past, Monty has no choice but to go behind his back and conduct a probe into the life of his own client. Never in his career has Monty been so lost for answers, until a long-forgotten incident takes on new and ominous meaning...".

"Sign of the cross" was the winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel in 2007.

The winners of the book giveaways will be added to this blog posting when I get the information. Anyone wishing to add to this post is very welcome to add their two cents worth...

Whodunit Book Club - June 29, 2010

June's Whodunit gathering was made up of a very lively and talkative group! Yet another enjoyable evening! The group welcomed a new member, Heather, who must have been overwhelmed by our chatter.

Pam posed the question: "Have you a favourite book that you buy over and over to give as gifts, or have you a book that you have bought more than one copy of?"
As usual the query garnered much conversation. Many stated that they had a favourite children's title that they repeatedly bought for gifts.

The book under discussion this week was "Coroner" by M.R. Hall.
The first comment was that although the novel had a strong female protagonist, the author is a man (Matthew Ronald Vickery Hall). He is a barrister and this, his first novel was nominated for the 2009 CWA Gold Dagger Mystery Award! He lives and works in the Wye valley in South Wales, where the Jenny Cooper novels are set.

The protagonist, Jenny Cooper has recently been appointed coroner in a small, rural community. It was understood that she was offered the job because they thought she would be easy to manipulate, having recently had a breakdown. Although she is a strong individual she relies heavily on prescription drugs and is emotionally vulnerable in part due to her recent divorce and separation from her teenage son. Her predecessor in the post of coroner recently passed away and her assistant, Allison, remained loyal to his memory, due to the fact that she had been in love with him. This made for an uncomfortable and sometimes frustrating working experience for Jenny.

Many of our group liked the parts in the book that detailed the coroner's courtroom scenes. For the most part, Jenny was thought to be a likeable, strong, and damaged protagonist. Some thought that her addiction to prescription drugs was mentioned too often in the story. Some thought that if that had not been done, the reader would come away with a distorted view of Jenny.
The possible love interest in the novel, Steve, was thought to be suffering from a resistance to responsibility and had a commitment phobia. That is not to say he was unlikeable, only flawed...

The club generally thought that the novel accurately portrayed the corruption present in most social structures and they liked the Welsh detective who seemed to have a Welsh/English rivalry going.

Some members of the club felt cheated because they were robbed of the opportunity to guess who the villain of the novel was because he was not introduced until near the end of the book.
All in all, the book came away with favorable views and I expect many of us will read the sequel(s) "The disappeared" and "The rapture".

This month's lucky book winners were: Gaye, Myrtle, Cathy and Marilyn.

It was announced in club that the local thriller writer, Pamela Callow will be a guest to our meeting on September 28th. Her book "Damaged" has garnered a lot of favorable press and is in high demand. We look forward to her visit.